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Erica Scharrer

My research interests involve the study of media content, opinions of media, media effects, and media literacy, particularly regarding gender and violence. My work has appeared in Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, and Media Psychology. I've co-authored three books with first author, George Comstock, including Media and the American Child (Elsevier, 2007) in which we provide a critical synthesis and review of the children and media literature. My edited collection Media Effects/Media Psychology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), part of the International Encyclopledia of Media Studies, provides a state-of-the-art review of the field. Particular emphases in my work include media depictions of masculinity, the third-person effect and other opinions about media influence, and the effectiveness of media literacy curricula.

with co-authors Laras Sekarasih, Kimberly Walsh McDermott, Donica O’Malley, Christine Olson. "To guide or to be the sage: children’s responses to varying facilitator prompts following a media literacy education curriculum in the United States." Journal of Children and Media, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2016.1157503. 2016.

with co-authors Kimberly Walsh and Laras Sekarasih. "Mean girls and tough boys: Children's meaning making and media literacy lessons on gender and bullying in the US." Journal of Children & Media, 8(3), 223-239. 2014.

"The behavioral, affective, and cognitive implications of media violence: Complex relationships between young people and texts" (pp. 209-216). In D. Lemish (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of children, adolescents, and media, Oxford, UK: Routledge. 2013.

with co-author Lisa Wortman-Raring. "A media literacy curriculum on violence in the US: Studying young people’s written responses for evidence of learning." Journal of Children and Media, 6(3), 351-366. 2012.

"More than 'just the facts'? Portrayals of masculinity in police and detective programs over time." Howard Journal of Communications, 23, 88-109. 2012.

Current Projects:

Current work includes a survey associating media use with perceptions of masculine gender roles and a study of young people's responses to a media literacy program on advertising and commercial culture.